NEH invites you to attend the launch of new Standing Together initiative

WASHINGTON, DC (March 26, 2014) – Please join the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) on Wednesday, April 2 at 4:30 PM to celebrate the launch of a new agency-wide initiative to encourage humanities programs that further understanding and study of the experiences of American veterans.

NEH’s new initiative Standing Together: The Humanities and the Experience of War recognizes the importance of the humanities in helping Americans to understand the experiences of service members as they return to civilian life. As part of Standing Together, NEH seeks grant proposals that explore war and its aftermath through advanced research in the humanities, public programs that promote discussion and understanding of the experiences of Americans affiliated with the armed services, whether active duty or veterans, and that have clear potential to involve the nation’s veterans and their families. NEH’s 56 state and territorial councils will be invited to participate.

Press and the public are invited to a launch event on April 2 which will feature special guest speakers and presentations of NEH-funded projects that explore the experience of war and military service.

Carole Watson, NEH Deputy Chairman will explain the goals of the Standing Together initiative

Captain Robert Timberg, Vietnam veteran, journalist, and author of The Nightingale’s Song, chronicling the lives of his fellow Naval Academy graduates John McCain, James Webb, Robert MacFarlane, John Poindexter and Oliver North, will moderate and speak about his forthcoming book, Blue-Eyed Boy, on coming to terms with grave injuries in Vietnam

Presentation by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and MacArthur Fellow David Finkel on why his acclaimed book The Good Soldiers was only the beginning of the story of the Iraq War, and how its reception led to the follow-up best-seller Thank You For Your Service

Preview of NEH-funded documentary Journey to Normal about women returning from Afghanistan and presentation by filmmaker JulieHera DeStefano, who was inspired to make the film after hearing an Iraq veteran who had lost an arm in service describe her struggle to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for her daughter

This event is free and open to the public; Please RSVP to pwasley@neh.gov[1] or (202) 606-8424